You can change the settings of each category to only allow video embeds and you can also change the permissions of groups/users so that they can only embed videos.
If you're on a fluid width display you can change the settings at Admin CP > Style Properties > XFMG: Responsive Design and set the "Number of items per row" to 4 or 5 or whatever suits.
Even though I disable all album permissions (I only want to categories) the sidebar block still shows with links and the "watched albums" like in drop down. How do I remove those?
If you have the bypass privacy permission you may well still see things related to categories. If you test it logged out or logged in as a normal user does that look any better?
To be clear I am talking about the "Albums" sidebar widget on the media homepage and the "Watched Albums" link in the navigation drop down. I'm trying to eliminate any personal user albums and just use global categories.